ISIS has used videos of its shocking beheadings of Western hostages to seize the world 's attention , threatening the United States and its allies .

But the Islamic militant group is also pushing its extremist views in a slick online magazine .

The publication -- named `` Dabiq '' after a town in northern Syria that symbolizes a clash between Islam and the West -- portrays U.S. President Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain as `` crusaders '' who will `` bring about the complete collapse of the modern American empire . ''

It also carries images evoking apocalyptic battles between the Sunni extremist group 's fighters and the rest of the world -- including American soldiers enveloped in flames .

By producing the magazine , ISIS is taking a leaf out of the book of its former ally al Qaeda , which has praised and advocated terrorist attacks in its glossy publication , Inspire .

But experts say the two terrorist groups do n't appear to be aiming for the same goals through their propaganda .

Inspire focuses more on practical advice for terrorists planning attacks , publishing guides on how to make bombs and get them onto planes .

Dabiq `` is very different , '' Seth Jones , a security analyst at the RAND Corporation , told CNN . `` This is encouraging people to come , to recruit and to join the army in Iraq and Syria -- and fight . ''

' A global outreach strategy '

ISIS has already been exploiting the brutal tactics it used to grab control of large areas of Syria and Iraq for publicity purposes .

The publication of Dabiq demonstrates that ISIS , which calls itself the Islamic State , is `` looking not only to nearby areas for support , but is undertaking a global outreach strategy to recruit immigrants to build its state , '' the Institute for the Study of War said in a recent report .

It noted `` the sophistication and production value of the magazine . ''

ISIS has successfully recruited large numbers of foreign fighters from across the globe , including from the United States and Western Europe .

A CIA source told CNN last week that more than 15,000 foreign fighters , including 2,000 Westerners , have gone to the civil war in Syria . It was not immediately clear how many have joined ISIS and how many are with other groups opposed to the Syrian government .

The foreign fighters come from more than 80 countries , the CIA source said .

Article on Foley 's beheading

Dabiq carries plenty of violent images , apparently aimed at luring jihadists . It has photos of the mutilated bodies of Muslims wounded and killed by Western forces and their allies -- but also pictures of ISIS 's own victims .

The final section of its most recent issue is dedicated to the beheading of American journalist James Foley , the first of three Western captives whose killings the group has publicized . The article defends his murder as retribution for Western military campaigns in the Middle East .

The magazine shows that ISIS , which is also known as ISIL , is paying close attention to what 's being said about it in the West , featuring an `` In the Words of the Enemy '' section .

In the first issue , it focuses on an article co-written by Douglas Ollivant , an Iraq combat veteran and key adviser on the surge in U.S. troops there under former President George W. Bush in 2007 . Ollivant , who appears regularly on CNN , is also described as a `` crusader . ''

He said he was `` perversely honored '' that the terrorists were reading his work , but was also aware he was being `` incorporated into their propaganda . ''

`` We take them seriously , write about them seriously , and perversely they then twist this to their potential recruits and say ` Look , you know , American analysts take us seriously , ' '' Ollivant told CNN .

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Images evoke apocalyptic battles between ISIS fighters and the rest of the world

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Expert : It 's part of `` a global outreach strategy to recruit immigrants to build its state ''

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Named `` Dabiq , '' the magazine calls Obama and McCain `` crusaders ''

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The latest issue carries an article defending the killing of James Foley